Lunar Cycle
by Castalia Moirae
Summary: Nephrite was murdered, and Naru believes she has moved on. But what if Mr Sanjoin isn't truly dead...?
1. Chapter 1

"Are you alright

**Chapter I**

"Are you alright?"

He leaned over her, protecting her. His face and arms were covered in blood. Green blood. His shirt was in tatters. And protruding from his chest were seven shafts of wood, clustered together. But all she saw was his eyes. They were filled with anxiety, and pain, and fear, and — she hardly dared to believe it, but there it was — love.

"Yes," she said weakly. He smiled.

"Good," he sighed, and collapsed. She cried out in fear and reached for him, cradling his head in her arms.

The evil one had gone. His monsters were reduced to piles of ash. A young woman stood before them, staring at her and the man, on the verge of tears. The man shifted a little to look at her.

"Well, it looks like your identity may remain secret after all," he laughed weakly. There was a gasp and a strangled sob behind him. He shifted to look into the eyes of the girl who held him. She was so young — or so he'd thought. The first time they had met, she had seemed so innocent, so completely unaware of the darkness that he had spent so many years immersed in. But he should have noticed it then: that flicker of fear, followed by curiosity and determination. Her spirit was stronger than he could have imagined. She was a woman already. She always had been.

There was strength in her, and light. A purity he had mistaken for childish ignorance. It was that light, that strength, he had come to love.

Yes — he could see it now. He loved her. He had loved her for a long time, even before he had been capable of understanding it. He wanted to stay by her side, to atone for his darkness, to share a little of the happiness she had found with him, and he with her. But even as he saw the truth, he knew it could not be. The cluster of shafts ground against his ribs, making him flinch. The girl noticed, tightening her hold around him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I don't think we'll be having that chocolate parfait after all." There was so much more he could have said, so much more he needed to say, but the silence held his tongue.

But the girl reacted. "No," she said softly. His words had sounded like goodbye. "No," she said again, louder. The man reached up to stroke her face. Such beauty … he would be sorry to leave her. And then he saw it. Through the tears, the pain, the fear, there was love.

He smiled. They needed no words. He let his eyes close. A teardrop fell on his cheek — a parting gift. He sighed.

She knew. She held him tighter and willed it not to be, willed him to return. "No," she said again. "You promised … you promised!" She lifted her head to the heavens, the stars gazing coldly down. A scream tore at her throat.

"NO!"

Naru sat up in bed before she was even awake, her heart in her throat. It took her a few moments to remember where she was, and to realize that it had only been a dream.

She shivered. It had come to her before, that dream. It was always so lucid. It had haunted her for a long time afterwards. But so much time had passed since then. Naru had moved on. Or so she had believed.

A breeze stole in through the open window, rustling the curtains. For a moment Naru thought she saw the silhouette again, the one she had woken to once before. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. There was nothing there but the light of the moon. She shook her head. Stupid.

Behind her stood an old wooden desk littered with papers. There were two placed in the very centre. One was an orientation letter from Juban Kotogakko, a fairly prestigious high school. She had taken the entrance exam with most of her friends, including Umino, Ami and Usagi. She was friendly with some of the other writers, too, like Mako and Minako. Amazingly, they all passed, even Usagi. Nary guessed that missing out on going to school with everyone she knew was enough of a threat to actually motivate Usagi to study. Miracles sometimes happened. The letter, which every successful applicant received, stated the first day of school as tomorrow.

The second piece of paper was an article from that morning's newspaper. It reported another three people missing, having simply disappeared from the streets of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. The one from Tokyo today had been a school teacher. He had vanished, according to witnesses, right outside Juban Kotogakko. But the school administrators and the police still deemed it safe for the students to come to school the next day. Nary had wondered about that. She'd had enough experience with monsters and evil plots to spot a suspicious event if she saw one. But, she figured, if the police didn't think there was danger, then it was probably fine.

Still, it was bad enough starting at a new school without having to worry about vanishing before you got there.

Naru sighed. She would get nowhere thinking like this. Better to just get some sleep and forget about it. She lay down and closed her eyes. The last thing she saw was the full moon, its light streaming in through her window.

"Aah! I'm late!"

Usagi Tsukino leaped out of bed, had hands blindly reaching for her uniform as she ran to the bathroom. Her black cat followed sedately behind her, watching as she tried to bush her hair and teeth at the same time.

"Really, Usagi, it's only your first day at this school, and you're already late. Is that any way to behave?" The cat spoke calmly, as though it were perfectly natural that she should talk. Usagi didn't seem surprised, either.

"Luna, why are you so mean?!" she demanded as she pulled her shirt over her head and got tangled in the sleeves.

"It's the truth," the cat said simply, and licked her paw. Usagi only grumbled as she pulled on her left sock and grabbed her bag.

"Wish me luck," she said happily as the bounded through the doorway.

"Luck," Luna said to empty air where the girl had been. "You'll need it," she added, and curled up for a nap.

Usagi tore through the house, grabbing a piece of toast on her way past the kitchen.

"I'm leaving!" she called as she pulled on her shoes."

"Bye!" her family chorused from the general direction of the dining table.

Juban Kotogakko was quite close to where her old school had been, which meant that she was not going to get there any faster. She tried anyway, her new black shoes pounding the pavement as she ran. She was happy her new uniform was easy to run in. It was almost exactly like her old one, but the motif was black and crimson where it had once been blue and red. What would Minako think of such a bold fashion statement? she wondered.

As if on cue, the sound of more running footsteps came from behind her. The runner drew level with Usagi, who grinned. It was Minako.

"Good first impression, huh?" the blonde girl panted. "We haven't even started yet, and we're already late." They rounded the corner past the pharmacy. Minako pointed. "Hey look, it's Naru."

Usagi looked up. Sure enough, her best friend Naru was there, standing on the corner of the next block.

"I thought you'd be along about now," the redhead smiled. "The school's just ahead. I think we can walk now." Usagi and Minako, who had been practically dragging Naru down the street, slowed to a walk. Naru sighed with relief, and the three friends burst out laughing.

They walked amiably through the gates of Juban. Hundreds of students were filing into the massive building, their progress impeded by two policemen on guard duty. Several black cars were parked on the street outside the school. Men in uniform were everywhere, inspecting the surroundings and questioning people.

"What the…?" Usagi looked around, bewildered. "Did something happen?"

"Maybe it's to do with all the disappearances," Minako said.

"There was a teacher who disappeared right here only yesterday," Naru added. "Maybe they're investigating?"

"Maybe," Minako agreed. They both looked at Usagi.

"Maybe we'll get a day off school!" she cried. The other two sighed and steered her into the building.

"Have you found anything?" Chief Inspector Izumo asked.

"No, sir, nothing of any use," Constable Michiro replied morosely.

"Well, never mind," Izumo said resignedly. "I wasn't really expecting anything. The whole place is clean. I can't find a single scrap of evidence. Not even another eyewitness."

"What will we do, sir?" Michiro asked tentatively.

"_We_ can do very little. HQ's called in a private detective to aid in the case. Until he gets here, were stuck."

"A … private detective, chief?"

"Yes," Izumo shook his head. "I wish we didn't need him. He's quite expensive. But I'm told he's very good. Maybe he'll be worth it."

"Who is he?"

"I … don't really know," the Chief admitted. "I only heard of him two weeks ago. Apparently he helped with the Biyaki case."

"What, that jewel thief?" Michiro asked, incredulous. "I thought that was sector 3-I's doing."

"Apparently, they came across him doing his own investigation. He'd uncovered something they hadn't, so they hired him to help them find more clues. He was the one that gave Hiro that note that led him to crack the case."

"Wow," Michiro whistled. "But that was only two months ago. Where was he before then?"

"No one knows. We can't find any previous records. We have his name — or at least, the one he gave us."

"Which is?"

"It's … hrm … ah yes. Sanjoin. Can't remember his first name. Something odd, though."

"Sanjoin…" Michiro repeated slowly. He looked up, towards the street. "Hmm…"

"Yay! School's done! School's done!" Usagi skipped through the halls. Mako, Naru and Minako walked along behind.

"I don't know her," Naru proclaimed to empty air. Minako laughed.

"Hey. Are those police still there?" Minako asked, craning her neck to see through the crowded double doors at the entrance.

"Police?" Minako echoed.

"Yeah, there were a whole bunch outside this morning," Usagi said.

"What for?" Minako looked around as though expecting to see a criminal jump through the walls.

"We think they're investigating those disappearances," Minako explained helpfully. "Didn't think they'd take this long, though." The group passed through the doors and into the bright sunshine. Sure enough, the police were still there, questioning people and poking around. Mako looked around in fascination.

"Wow, I can't believe I missed them before. I shouldn't have gotten here so early." Usagi pulled a face. Mako laughed. "But I guess it's good I wasn't late!" she added cheerfully. Usagi wailed.

"Why are you so mean, Mako??" she demanded. Mako giggled, then stopped as something caught her eye.

"Hey, who's that good-looking guy over there?"

"Huh?" The other three looked where she was pointing. A man stood a little ways apart from them, talking to a police officer. He seemed to be giving instructions. He was not in uniform; rather, he had on a pair of jeans and expensive-looking black shoes. A tailored black jacket rested on his shoulders, a white shirt peeking above the collar. Around his neck was a chain with a small piece of polished wood hanging from it. He was quite handsome, through they could only see his profile, which was obscured by unusually long, wavy brown hair. He held himself as though he were a commander, giving orders to one of his soldiers. His demeanour was calm and steady, even in the face of such unsettling events. Even as the girls watched, the police officer nodded, and the man turned away to face his observers.

He froze, his eyes widened in shock. Naru gasped, followed by Usagi. For a moment they simply stood there, unmoving, staring at each other. Naru gasped a shuddering breath. Her hand reached towards him unconsciously. The man blinked, uncomprehending … and suddenly a flicker of pain flashed across his face. Naru opened her mouth to speak —

"Ah!" A soft scream came from behind. The four girls spun around to see Ami standing close behind, paralyzed with shock as she gaped at the man. They all turned back —

But he was gone.

A tense silence hung over the group. Mako and Minako glanced at each other in utter confusion as Naru, Ami and Usagi struggled to regain the power of speech. It was Ami who broke the silence.

"Wasn't he…?"

"He couldn't have been …" Usagi was no better off. Naru looked at her, a strange expression in her eyes.

"Nephrite-sama," she said quietly, with a calmness that scared her.

"It was Nephrite-sama."


	2. Chapter 2

The broom fell with a clatter

The broom fell with a clatter.

"That's impossible!" Rei Hino cried. "We saw him die!"

"I know," Ami Mizuno answered calmly. "But he was there, plain as day. There was no mistaking him."

Rei sighed and fell onto the stairs with a thump that made Ami flinch.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," she said. "I keep thinking you're really going to fall."

"What, and ruin the pretty red kimono? I don't think so," Mako grinned.

"Hey," Rei said warningly, and narrowed her eyes at Mako. After a second they both started laughing.

"Can we focus, please?" Luna yowled from the top stair.

"But Usagi's not here yet," Minako said. "She was only taking Naru home. Shouldn't we wait for her?"

"She may want to stay with her a little longer," Ami pointed out. "That was quite a shock she had today."

"Yeah, about that," Mako shifted a little on her step. "Could someone please explain why that guy was so frightening to you all?"

"I don't get it either," Minako agreed. Rei nodded.

"That's right, we still hadn't met up back then," the shrine maiden said. "Well, this guy, he … um … how should I explain this?" she looked helplessly at Ami, who sighed.

"Nephrite was a member of the Dark Kingdom, one of the Four Elites," Ami began. "He was succeeded by Zoisite."

"Oh, I remember him," Mako nodded.

Ami smiled. "You may remember that Zoisite had that Black Crystal that he used to turn Rainbow Crystal carriers into monsters. Well, Nephrite was the one who discovered it. He collected energy by taking the beloved, mundane objects of ordinary people and imbuing them with Dark power. The objects fed off the person's energy until that person collapsed and the object turned into a monster. In order to get at the people whose objects he would taint, he created a fake identity: a Mr Sanjoin. And somehow, during our long struggle against him, he met Naru. At first he only used her for energy, like everyone else. But then something strange happened. Naru fell in love with him, or at least his false identity. And I think, if what happened at the end meant anything, that Nephrite may have fallen in love with her, too."

"But he was one of the Dark Kingdom!" Mako protested. "How could that happen between him and a human?!"

"Ah, Mako, don't forget, love is deaf," Minako said sagely.

"Love is blind," Rei corrected, smirking. "_Blind_, Minako." Minako pulled a face.

"_Anyway_," Ami continued. "I think Nephrite thought the same as you do, Mako, at least for the first while. But then Zoisite took Naru hostage in an effort to obtain the Black Crystal. And Nephrite, it seems, ran to save her."

"Oh, no," Minako breathed.

"We arrived far too late," Ami said quietly. "It seems Nephrite had managed to rescue Naru, but he was attacked by three of Zoisite's monsters. We attacked them, of course. But Zoisite escaped with the Black Crystal. And …" she squeezed her eyes shut and covered her mouth. Rei drew her into a hug.

"He died in Naru's arms," Rei said softly over Ami's shoulder.

Mako and Minako sat dumbfounded, trying to digest the tale. Luna lay down in a solemn way. Ami, her head still rested on Rei's shoulder, sniffed and opened her eyes…

To find a rice ball floating inches from her nose.

Slowly she looked up, into the smiling eyes of Yuichiro as he held out the snack to her, smiling cautiously. A tray of food sat next to him on the top step.

"You want one?" he asked. "Might make you feel better."

Rei jumped at the sudden voice behind her, throwing Ami off-balance and straight into a glass of orange juice.

"YUICHIRO!"

The roar had the apprentice on his feet and running before Rei had even grabbed the broom, but that wasn't much of an advantage as she chased him round and round the courtyard. The other three watched in mild amusement as they all tried to wipe the juice from Ami's face and hair.

Luna just sighed.


End file.
